And you didn't either really, if Australia hadn't wasted that review.
English cricket thread
- Thread starter Samid
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And you didn't either really, if Australia hadn't wasted that review.
No excuses, the Aussies are the better team and have proved it across this series. I don't think either batting line-up is up to snuff but they have Smith who is just unbelievable, while we have no x-factor until we're staring down the barrel. Root was left praising our character and fight in his post-match interview which says it all; we have the balls to hang in there, produce moments of brilliance and occasionally pull things back but we don't have the skill and quality to do anything consistently. Our batting, bowling, fielding, selection, captaincy and whatever other facet of the game you care to name have been found wanting too often in this series. There's a rebuild to be done once this summer is over.
Better than the 2005 Ashes? I think so.
Teams don't like to make wholesale changes within a series but I think England should bite the bullet and drop Bairstow, Buttler and Roy from the next match. Maybe Denly too.
Tbf no team will make four changes in a team just on form but I'd argue that they should 100% drop atleast three of them.
Tbf no team will make four changes in a team just on form but I'd argue that they should 100% drop atleast three of them.
Nah. 2005 had the two best teams in the world going at it. This England side is well off it.
Eh?
Why wait? Get Sibley and Pope in for the next test.
Don’t understand. I support England. I’m saying England didn’t deserve the third test, as Australia played the better cricket and were undone by a historic and career best innings.
Australia bowling attack in 2005 was quite average beyond McGrath and Warne. That was a great Australia team on the way down.
Roy looks like he just doesn't have it in him to play test cricket for England.
Lee was still very, very good. Stacks up well man for man in my eyes:
Cummins > Lee
Hazelwood = McGrath
Lyon <<<<<< Warne (40 wickets ffs)
Pattinson > Gillespie
Starc > Tait
Siddle > Kasprowicz
But when you get to the last 3 comparisons the impact in both Ashes has negligible from those players, it's the top 3 where the crux of it is. I could understand Hazelwood over McGrath statistically but Warne is so much better than Lyon that it would still make it a dead heat.
As for an Australian team on the way down, the 5-0 drubbing in the series after says otherwise.
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Beaten by the better team.
You can't keep putting yourself in situations where you basically need a miracle to win / draw and expect to win any series.
You can't keep putting yourself in situations where you basically need a miracle to win / draw and expect to win any series.
Glenn McGrath was amazing. Him and Warne in tandem used to just strangle the life out of teams. You couldn't score off either, and so pressure built and batsmen played shots they shouldn't and got out. For me McGraths steepling bounce was unplayable. He used to get balls rising off a length and end up whistling into the chin area. Fantastic bowler and probably one of my all time greats.
He averaged over 40 in that series, going at more than four an over.
And his spell at Trent Bridge in the 4th innings was still one of the best in that series. His battle at the Oval vs Pietersen could have gone another way too. The numbers don't back it up but he was still a handful, not at Cummins or Hazelwood's standards but he'd easily slot in as 3rd seamer in this side.
Lee was also bowling at batsmen who could actually bat a test innings too...
It was but his other spells where he constantly overpitched to Trescothick and Strauss were really poor.
Still overall there's not much in it for me in terms of bowling attacks between 2005 and 2019. In 2005 you had 2 main guys backed up by guys chipping in and it's pretty much the same now. Lee's 20 wickets @ 41 is comparative to Lyon's 16 wickets @ 37 so far this series.
McGrath didn't play in both the matches that England won in that 2005 series.
Also McGrath was better than Hazelwood.
I think Lyon's been crap too but I've had enough trouble in this thread from my thoughts on him...
Wish Curran was given a chance as a specialist batsman. Highly doubt that he'd have averaged less than any of our top 7.
Bloke's never made a hundred in professional cricket.
Dobell was calling for inclusion of Sibley as an opener in the next match. Haven't heard of him ever, good player?
That would be nice but I don't see it, I think they'll give the lads they've picked so far one last chance then wield the axe this winter.
Looking at the schedule for the World Test Championship, England play too many Test matches for a side that isn't very good at the format.
They need to cut back and rebuild otherwise it's going to massively affect the shorter formats. Not sure why they have a 5 match test series in India for other than stroke the ego of the Indian team after a 5-0 or 4-0 hiding.
They need to cut back and rebuild otherwise it's going to massively affect the shorter formats. Not sure why they have a 5 match test series in India for other than stroke the ego of the Indian team after a 5-0 or 4-0 hiding.
I've not seen much of him but he can't be any worse than Roy.
He's scored a bucketful of runs this season but we've gone down this road before with Robson, Jennings, Stoneman, Hameed, Duckett etc. and they all turned out to be gash.
Its so strange to see teams playing each other home and away, its almost like it'll be nearly 3 years since the 2 teams met.
What a strange comment.
I'm not saying they should never play each other. Just saying England should cut back in the amount of Test matches they play. A 3 or 4 Test Match series would have been better in 2021 given the lack of quality have in the format.
To add further, the India - Australla Test series which would probably be the most competitive is only 4 Test matches long.
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India vs England is in 2021. Not sure how that's stroking anyone's ego which is why I found your comment strange.
As for England playing less Tests, how does that actually help them develop players game in the longer format?
That's been the same story for a long time (not England being bad but playing so many tests) - Bairstow, for instance, has nearly 70 matches and he's a very average test batsman.
Yeah I know India vs England is in 2021, I was talking about the length of the series. The longer it goes on, it only really benefits the coffers or the Indian's team ego as they win one match after the other. I really don't see the point in a 5 test long series between the two sides right now. I could with Australia and India but that's only 4 matches long.
It may not help them to be honest, in fact my argument ended up being that it may stop them harming their performances in the shorter formats, but dropping 1 or 2 matches might mean they can actually prepare better with tour matches etc.
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Isn't that the issue though. The more you play something, in general, the better you get at it. We already suck at test cricket so to limit how often we play will just make us worse. To be honest I've got to say I love the 5 day game. Limited overs cricket is ok but to me it's a poor substitute. IMLTHO the more test matches the better.
English fans and their optimism.Might be wrong here but don't teams usually play the same number of tests home and away, India played 5 away so England play 5 away to India.
Not strictly true given fatigue, otherwise resting players would not be a topic in football. I'd much rather limit how many Tests England have and get the players playing First Class matches if they need to get better at it, rather not have Test matches as the learning ground as it is the case for a whole lot of them.
Averages 28 in the last two years. He averaged 40 in the 44 games he played before that. He wasn't very average when he was picked in most of his games.
Thats total crap. He's by far and away the best test match batter in the world
He's 20 years old.
Being good at First Class cricket does not make you a test player. I agree that playing too much cricket can be wearing but I would rather see us limit one day cricket than test matches. We play way too much limited overs cricket these days.
Yeah my feeling too.